How Often Should I Review My Estate Plan?

Understanding What Should Trigger a Review of Your Estate Plan

As a general rule, we suggest that you review your estate plan every five years, or any time there has been a substantial change in your family or financial situation.

For example, you should seek legal advice about your estate plan in the event of major life changes such as the birth of a child, divorce or remarriage, death of a spouse, or receipt of a substantial inheritance. Also, even after a trust is created, you may need to make decisions about adding assets to the trust from time to time.

You should also consider revisiting your estate plan if you are experiencing early cognitive decline, or receive a diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimers. You may retain the legal mental capacity to make final decisions about your plan for longer than you might think.

Even if you have not experienced any of these major life changes, the laws do change from time to time, in ways that could have implications for your plan. One example is the federal estate tax exemption. This is scheduled to drop from over $11 million currently back to $5 million in 2026, but Congress has considered reducing the exemption earlier.

Learn more here about when to review or update your estate plan.